Hi All!
Well I had a priceless lifetime moment Tuesday Nov. 15, 2010! Got a
facebook text from a friend who runs "Stinky Pete's Ferret Retreat" in
Florida (and from whom a half dozen ferrets have managed to find my
home suitable), her shelter was going to be visited by Bob Church as
he passed through on a trip to the Everglades! Those who could manage
on such short notice were welcome to visit too.
Managing to actually get off work at 5 pm ( instead of 8pm) gave me
time to run home, gather some ferrets and zip on down south. Kimba
lives an hour away and Bob was supposed to arrive between 7pm & 8pm.
When Bob arrived there were 7 women waiting to meet him.
For those of you that aren't familiar with Bob Church - PLEASE do an
online search for him - simply use "Bob Church Ferrets" and you will be
directed to a plethora of links. Bob Church has been a life time photo-
journalist and also is a Zoo-archeologist. He has undertaken at his
OWN expense and time to do "The Ferret Project" which is a multi
year, worldwide study of ferrets on different continents and in many
different situations, both domestic and feral and including polecats of
all types! He studies their physiology, anatomy and skeletal structure
as well as dentition and diet among other things like genetics,
husbandry and management. His data is being compiled and is already
proving what many of us natural feeders suspect/ surmise - that the
health of the ferret is definitely tied to its diet and that housing
management plays a significant role. While early altering is the main
culprit behind adrenal, there are other factors too - such as stress
and photo- periods ( daylight influence - NOT snapshots).
Bob's research has shown a definitive correlation between kibble diets
and insulinoma, not to mention poor oral health, IBD and a host of
other maladies.
Bob met with 7 strange, crazy ferret women to share informally his
experiences, some stories and good laughs. He is much like I had
envisioned him via his writings - a man with lots of knowledge, easy
to talk with, has a great sense of humor and is INTENSELY devoted to
ferrets!
AS the hostess introduces us one by one to Bob, she got to me and
described me as being the Kim on the FML list that gets people all
riled up about feeding naturally; and who is the one that frequently
goes toe to toe with one particular poster. To which Bob grabbed my
hand to shake itagain, much more vigorously than the first time ,
exclaiming : "OH you are THAT Kim! - Pleased to meet you!" :D
AS the only one in our little group that is a natural feeder I felt a
bit honored when Bob would mention things like, "Kim, I'm sure you've
seen this... when speaking of healthy teeth." Or when one of the group
was inquiring about Bob's ideas to assuage recurrent, chronic, IBD in
a 5 year old ferret and Bob commented, "Well, this will make you happy
Kim - first for IBD ferrets you have to realize that they are NOT
designed to eat the high carbohydrates in manufactured foods and they
NEED real meat proteins!" He spoke about natural fed ferrets not
requiring food in front of them at all times. He asked me how many
times a day I feed and my reply was generally twice a day about 12
hours apart, but sometimes once a day and sometimes none. I try to
mimic how a true predatory carnivore would eat. Bob said that's exactly
what he does! That it is a MYTH that ferrets HAVE to have food in front
of them 24/7 - that ONLY WHEN FED KIBBLE does this come in to play
because of the intense wide ranging of blood sugar levels when feeding
kibbles!
He explained how large the ferret pancreas is in relation to it's body
size and that this is due to the FACT that ferret's evolved to eat
SOLELY animal proteins and ZERO carbs! The ferret stomach is extremely
acidic in order to digest the meat and bones and the intestinal tract
is so short that the pancreas has to excrete digestive enzymes to work
quickly and to neutralize the excess acids to prevent the acids from
eating the ferret from the inside out!
The pancreas does have another role and that is to transform the animal
proteins into usable blood sugars for the ferret - which is done mostly
by the pancreatic beta cells. When the ferret is forced to eat
carbohydrates the pancreas recognizes there is too much sugar in the
system and it has to go in to over drive to regulate the sugars and
normalize the system - hence you get the highs and lows. Because there
are no where near enough animal proteins in ANY kibble the ferret has
to eat huge quantities to try and meet its MEAT needs! Which as you can
easily see again causes an insidious cyclic overload for the pancreas.
The end result of such daily onslaughts year in and year out is the
many health issues we see that are so often considered "normal" for
ferrets - poor oral health, IBD, and insulinoma!
Conversely a ferret on an evolutionary diet will have a rather stable
rhythm of blood sugar.
Bob talked to us about dentition (and the effects of kibble on the
teeth). He demonstrated, using our ferrets the HUGE amount of NOSE
entailing the ferret's head. He explained the evolutionary development
for such a large nose.
He spoke about the robust immune system of the ferret and the reason
that feeding naturally isn't a cause for concern to sterilize
everything and ferrets are easily able to (and will) eat "prizes"
that have gone off a bit.
How the entire family of mustelids are not simply predators, but
scavengers and rather hyena like in that respect - they have immensely
powerful jaws for their size, incredible noses for tracking down
carrion and smelling buried stashes of other predators, unique teeth
designed to shear meat from bone and to crush the bones, opening up
nutritious marrow, they have excellent memories and capabilities to
learn which makes them formidable foes and keeps them from becoming
prey themselves.
Bob was asked questions about angora ferrets, feral ferrets, polecats,
American ferrets, European ferrets and Russian ferrets. He had a great
story about A UK working ferret and her family of Lurchers and human.
He spoke with an easy manner, jovial tone and the passion within him
regarding these animals was evident. I'll admit it, I was mesmerized,
intrigued, delighted and at the same time felt immediate camaraderie!
I did my best to be reserved and let the other ladies ask their
questions. At one point Bob said, "Kim, I thought you'd have lots of
questions." I replied, "Bob, you've pretty much touched on many of the
things I would have asked, and I didn't want to commandeer your time -
these other people have questions too." Hehe - apparently he'd read at
least a few of my posts on some forums!
Bob feeds a wide variety of prey items as well as his chicken gravy -
which he said he doesn't cook as long as he used to. I gathered he fed
it mostly like a pureed mix. This form is always good to get the
ferrets used to should they need it when they get ill.
I inquired if he knew of any of these so called "studies" for "complete
& balanced, approved" diets that are plastered on every bag of kibble
and how I've written to the major manufacturers seeking the basis of
such requirements from them - but all queries have gone unanswered. Bob
explained there are NO specific ferret studies beyond the so called
AAPFCO (may have the initials mixed up) ones where a specific food
(kibble) is fed to the animal and the animal, depending on age only has
to SURVIVE on said kibble for six months to a year or if a breeding
animal must produce the normal QUANTITY of offspring. There are NO
studies done proving the actual nutrient requirement for optimal ferret
health and longevity. Bob said there is however ONE diet that DOES
provide optimum nutrients and offers the best longevity and that diet
is strictly - the EVOLUTIONARY NATURAL diet! In other words a prey
model diet!
The rodents, rabbits, fish, amphibians, insects, invertebrates that
ferrets and polecats evolved eating is EXACTLY the proper diet to offer
them the very best health! Waiting until a ferret has gone through
at least one mature sexual cycle BEFORE altering MAY be a key to
preventing the onslaught of adrenal - but that practice would be nearly
impossible in the US and is very quickly fading in the UK as the UK
seems to be adopting the ferret keeping/feeding habits of Americans.
AS the night progressed a couple of the ladies took their leave. When
the remaining 3 of us realized it was now 1:30 AM we reluctantly said
our good byes to Bob and Good night. Pix of course were taken and we
parted company.
I must say on the way home I did feel rather vindicated by many of the
things Bob had said. While my venture into the raw, natural world was
due to one sweet deaf Panda colored ferret Josie - she opened my eyes
to what it means to offer a ferret the best! I'm glad I wasn't
hypnotized by the manufacturers and certain so called self proclaimed
"experts who have had ferrets for decades" or compelled by clever
advertising gimmicks and endorsements by veterinarians to remain
magnetized to the straight and narrow tracks of the soulless
indifferent kibble train!
While I understand feeding naturally touches a nerve with many people,
and some people cannot bear to even consider it; one of the most
repeated questions on ANY ferret forum or in any ferret owner gathering
is , "What is the best food to feed my ferrets?" The fact is there is
only ONE best diet and that is to use Bob's phrase: "The evolutionary
diet"! All else is only second best ( if that).
The sad fact is that anyone who HAS jumped the tracks and ventured
into the natural world and is willing enough to share their wonderful
results with the rest of the ferret world - these pioneers get shot
down, over run, over moderated, stifled, even banned by people
unwilling to even attempt a natural diet. While at the same time those
same negative people continue to contribute to the demise of many
ferrets and actually promote ill health by continuing to dispense WRONG
information about "safe" healthy foods and treats for ferrets; they'll
use scare tactics about bacteria and perpetuate myths that kibble can
clean teeth or that the grains and carbs and vegetables in the kibble
CAN be digested by the ferrets. To them I say, " SHAME on you and HUSH
up! You do NOT need scientific studies to prove what mother nature has
already proved - ferrets EVOLVED as obligatory carnivores and have NO
apparatus within them to digest or utilize plant matter!"
Feeding an evolutionary diet CAN be done economically and IS safe for
the ferrets and humans with just a bit of common sense and a tad bit
of research on the human's part. The evolutionary diet offers a WIDE
variety of foodstuffs to keep the ferrets interested in meal time which
only enriches their entire beings
Seeing the proof of the power of a natural diet transform many ferrets
of ALL ages before my very eyes, I shared this experience across many
ferret forums and often became embroiled in heated discussions with
very close minded people. It is the ferrets that suffer when people
ONLY want convenience foods and it is hard for me sometimes to not be
blunt when, with just a SMALL bit of effort, feeding naturally can be
done! The TREMENDOUS benefits reaped are palpable and can happen right
before your very eyes!
Early on in my quest to offer Josie the best I could I stumbled upon
Bob Church's postings and he quickly became my idol. I enjoy the way
he writes, I admire the investment he's made, and feel bad that he's
suffered great personal losses and jeopardized his health and
livelihood to simply learn more and get other people to learn more
about ferrets and he has always come across as a very down to earth
person. After meeting him in person - the picture I'd painted of him
was fairly accurate - although I'd envisioned him a tad taller....
My hat is off to you Bob Church! Thank you for sharing with mere
mortals the experiences you've had. You are an inspiration to ANY
one that truly wants to offer their ferrets the best!
please visit:
for ferret help and info:
http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi
http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi
yahoo groups Natural Ferrets
[Posted in FML 6885]
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